


Semi-Verbal

by Mortimer_Dead_Sea



Series: SNK Headcanons [2]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: A Dash of Ableism, A Very Confused Eren, Confused and Slightly Intimidated, For Once There's No Ship, I Wrote This in Two Sittings, Implied Autistic Mike, Semi-Verbal Mike, That'll Probably Change, autistic author
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-15
Updated: 2018-01-15
Packaged: 2019-03-05 08:51:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 528
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13384365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mortimer_Dead_Sea/pseuds/Mortimer_Dead_Sea
Summary: "Mike just shrugged his shoulders, his facial expression never changing, just as flat as it usually was.Eren wasn’t sure what to do with this."Eren has never heard Mike talk and is confused as to why.





	Semi-Verbal

**Author's Note:**

> So I have three autistic headcanons for SNK and Mike is one of them. It kind of sprouted from me realizing that I'm autistic and then projecting onto characters. Oops.
> 
> But anyway, I totally imagine Mike is semi-verbal/goes semi-verbal (which is why he rarely talks and is only shown talking to certain people).
> 
> So I wrote this very short thing about it.

When Eren had first met some of his more eccentric superiors, he had certainly been thrown in for a loop. He wasn’t sure whether to be more put off by Mike or Hanji, but they were pretty neck in neck at this point. They were certainly very different kinds of eccentric; Hanji was very boisterous while Mike was much more closed off to the point that Hanji had been speaking for him when Eren had first met them. Eren was pretty sure that he had never actually heard Mike speak out loud.

Although he figured that was about to change. He was supposed to find Levi, but with the Corporal nowhere in sight, he had to ask Mike if he had seen him.

“Uh, Mike?” Mike turned to look at Eren, and Eren felt himself shrink slightly. Not only was Mike his superior but he was tall and muscular and the best soldier in the Survey Corps second only to Levi. And as much as Eren hated to admit it, he was actually easily intimidated by authority figures. It showed through more with the people he actually respected.

“Have you seen Levi?” Eren asked.

Mike nodded.

“Where?”

Mike nodded his head to gesture down the hall.

“Uh…” Eren wasn’t sure what to do with that. “Can you be a bit more descriptive?”

Mike just shrugged his shoulders, his facial expression never changing, just as flat as it usually was.

Eren wasn’t sure what to do with this, but then he heard footsteps approach, and Levi was there.

“Mike,” he said, the man in question merely nodding in turn. “Eren.”

Mike walked off after that, and Eren watched him go, absolutely baffled at what just happened.

“What is it, brat?” Levi asked.

“Uh…” Eren’s gaze was still trained on the hall Mike had disappeared down. “Can Mike speak, Sir?”

“Sometimes,” Levi explained. “He can when he’s being a section commander with no problems. Otherwise, he can sometimes talk to his squad, and can sometimes talk to Hanji and me. He can talk to Erwin with the most ease.”

“Why?” Eren asked.

Levi shrugged. “It takes a lot of energy to talk to certain people.”

Well. Eren supposed that explained why Hanji had done the talking for him. Looking back, he had though Hanji was being rude, but he supposed it would have been more rude if she hadn't defended Mike with however Eren might have interpreted his behavior.

“I used to think he was just being rude,” Levi added. “But then one day I tried to force him to speak and Hanji got on my case. Eventually he was able to start talking to me. But it takes time.”

Eren nodded.

“We’re all a little strange here,” Levi said. “And the longer you’re here, the more strange things you’ll start to notice about each of us. And you’ll learn to live with them.”

Eren nodded, and Levi turned on his heel.

“Now, come on,” he said. “We have things to attend to.”

Levi began to walk down the hall he came from, Eren not far behind. Eren wondered what other strange things he would come to learn in time.

**Author's Note:**

> I'll probably end up delving more into my headcanons if I can get the writing juices flowing. It comes and goes so easily.


End file.
